This guide is aimed at singers and singing teachers interseted in the French song repertoire. In a clear and concise way, using examples from well known song settings, it sets out the basics of French versification, showing how an understanding of verse techniques can enhance the enjoyment and interpretation of the French mélodie.

Understanding French Verse: A Guide for Singers explains the formal structure of the French language and sets out the basics of French versification, using examples drawn from a wide range of well-known song settings. In clear and concise style, it explains the Alexandrine meter typically used in French-language poetry, how to distinguish different meters by counting syllables, how to identify stresses and rhyme in French verse, and ultimately, how to enhance the interpretation and enjoyment of the melodie . The book also offers valuable resources, including a brief history of French versification, detailed analysis of several poems, a glossary of technical terms, and suggestions for further reading. While other books help singers with French diction, or offer translations of French texts, no other book helps a singer understand the meaning behind what they are singing. Understanding French Verse is an essential tool for singers, accompanists, and other musicians who want to understand more about the French texts with which they are working.

This 1980 book is designed to help university students to master the technicalities and techniques of French verse. The author assumes that part of the difficulty encountered by readers derives from the need to approach French verse through English verse; this book undertakes, therefore, a differentiation of the two verse traditions. Dr Scott's concern is to provide the groundwork of a terminology, to discuss the origins and implications of that terminology, and to show how terminological knowledge can be translated into critical speculation about poetry. After three chapters which establish the essential features of the French line of verse and outline the difficulties the student is likely to encounter in trying to describe it and deal with it, the book moves on to consider rhyme, stanzas, verse forms and free verse.

Dr Scott examines the intimate life of words in verse, with all their fluctuations of meaning, mood and tone.